VulnerabilityPublished 4 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-20696: MediaTek MT6739, MT6761, MT6765, MT6768, MT6781, MT6789, MT6813, MT6833, MT6835, MT6853, MT6855, MT6877, MT6878, MT6879, MT6883, MT6885, MT6886, MT6889, MT6893, MT6895, MT6897, MT6899, MT6983, MT6985, MT6989, MT6990, MT6991, MT8188, MT8196, MT8370, MT8390, MT8676 · Out-of-bounds Write

Affects MediaTek MT6739, MT6761, MT6765, MT6768, MT6781, MT6789, MT6813, MT6833, MT6835, MT6853, MT6855, MT6877, MT6878, MT6879, MT6883, MT6885, MT6886, MT6889, MT6893, MT6895, MT6897, MT6899, MT6983, MT6985, MT6989, MT6990, MT6991, MT8188, MT8196, MT8370, MT8390, MT8676Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.8 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:29 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.8Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Physical
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Physical: The attack requires the attacker to physically touch or manipulate the vulnerable component. Physical interaction may be brief or persistent.
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
MediaTek, Inc. MT6739, MT6761, MT6765, MT6768, MT6781, MT6789, MT6813, MT6833, MT6835, MT6853, MT6855, MT6877, MT6878, MT6879, MT6883, MT6885, MT6886, MT6889, MT6893, MT6895, MT6897, MT6899, MT6983, MT6985, MT6989, MT6990, MT6991, MT8188, MT8196, MT8370, MT8390, MT8676	Affected =14.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediate patching: Organizations should prioritize applying vendor patches once available, specifically the patch referenced by ALPS09915215. Coordination with device manufacturers and vendors is essential to obtain and deploy updates.
Physical security controls: Enhance physical security measures to prevent unauthorized access to devices, especially in sensitive environments. This includes secure storage, access controls, and monitoring.
User awareness and training: Educate users about the risks of connecting devices to untrusted hosts or executing unknown payloads, reducing the chance of user interaction enabling exploitation.
Device inventory and risk assessment: Identify all devices using affected MediaTek chipsets and assess their exposure risk, focusing on those in critical roles or with high physical access risk.
Endpoint protection: Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting anomalous privilege escalation attempts or memory corruption behaviors on affected devices.
Network segmentation: Isolate vulnerable devices within segmented network zones to limit potential lateral movement if exploitation occurs.
Monitor for updates from MediaTek and security advisories to apply patches promptly and track emerging exploit reports.

Description

In DA, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege, if an attacker has physical access to the device, with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS09915215; Issue ID: MSV-3801.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to devices and embedded systems using the affected MediaTek chipsets. This includes smartphones running Android versions 13 to 15, as well as IoT devices, routers, and other embedded systems running openWRT, Yocto, RDK-B, or Zephyr OS that incorporate these chipsets. The impact centers on local privilege escalation, which could allow an attacker with physical access to bypass security controls, gain higher privileges, and potentially extract sensitive data, install persistent malware, or disrupt device functionality. This is particularly concerning for sectors with high-value or sensitive data such as government, telecommunications, critical infrastructure, and enterprises deploying IoT devices. The requirement for physical access and user interaction reduces the likelihood of widespread remote exploitation but increases risk in environments where devices are accessible to insiders or attackers with temporary physical access. Additionally, the broad range of affected chipsets and OS versions means many devices in use across Europe could be vulnerable if not patched. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests the threat is currently theoretical but could be weaponized in the future, especially as attackers develop techniques to automate or socially engineer user interaction.

CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #5
The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

corp.mediatek.com/product-security-bulletin/August-2025 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Aug 2025, 02:33 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-787

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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